February Recap

The shortest month of the year is finally over! It was a great month but I am so excited for March!  In February, I started training for my third half marathon and has some of the snowiest runs ever!  Overall it was a good month!


Average Temp: 34F/1.1C

Miles run: 92.1 miles.  Can't believe I ran that many miles during this short month!

Rest days taken: 8 from running, 7 from all activity.  Guess I have been slacking on the cross training.

Highest mileage week: 26.9 miles

Average pace: 8:31 min/mile

Current Obsessions: Work....getting married in under 200 days....planning the wedding....running....life....work....wedding....you could say that I am slightly stressed out/overwhelmed.

Current Excitement: First race of 2011 on March 12th!

Current Read: The Late, Lamented Molly Marx by Sally Koslow and The Postmisstress by Sarah Blake

Current Guilty Pleasure: Hot chocolate, cookies, skittles...pretty much all things sweet!  I just can't stop craving all things sugar!

How did your February shape up??

Half Marathon - Week 3

Monday - Easy
3.5 miles with 4x50m strides/30:55/8:50 pace

We got hit with snow over night so I knew I would have to hit up the gym for this run.  My alarm went off and I literally jumped out of bed.  The roads hadn't been plowed and I was pretty much the first person out on the roads but I got to the gym safely and did my run, then some elliptical and weights!

Tuesday - Tempo
5.5 miles/44:00/8:00 pace

Back to running club! 
(I joined this running team/club last summer after a co-worker convinced me to go.  It is great having a group of people to run with not only for the Tuesday track workouts but also weekend long runs.)

Wednesday - Recovery
3 miles/27:25/9:08 pace

Some easy miles on the treadmill in the afternoon.  It was sunny outside and I almost thought about driving home instead and heading out on the roads for this run.  But I headed to the gym to make sure that I didn't wimp out and ran my recovery miles.

Thursday - Interval Tempo
5.25 miles/42:10/8:01 pace

This was the same workout I did last week, except with less recovery time
1mi WU
2x 1mi at Tempo (7:03 pace) with 1 min recovery
4x 200m at interval (6:44) with 200m recovery
1 mi CD

The mile repeats felt easier and my body didn't feel as fatigued as when I ran this same workout last Tuesday.  Its great to see the little improvement.  Brian and I were leaving after work to go and visit his family so I had to do this workout in the morning.  My whole usual running schedule was a little off this week and I ended up doing Wednesday and Thursday's runs within 12 hours of each other.  My legs didn't seem to notice - running my recovery runs at a slower pace is really working!

Friday - Off

Saturday - Long Split Tempo Run
7.26 miles/1:00:18/8:18 pace

Friday we got hit with snow AGAIN!  I was worried I would have to run on the treadmill if all the snow wasn't cleared from the roads.  Thank goodness I woke up Saturday morning to dry, slush free roads!

I ran alone this week as I was with Brian visiting his family.  I got out on the roads early before all the fun started.  The plan was to run 2 miles easy, 2 miles at half marathon pace, 2 miles easy.  I ended up running 2 easy miles at 8:30 pace, 2 fast miles at 7:29 pace, and 3.26 miles at 8:43 pace.  Might have been a little too fast paced but it was still nice.

Sunday - Off

Total week 3 mileage: 24.5 mi

Trading the Treadmill for the Track

My usual Tuesday routine is to get up at 4:40am and go to the gym to run my interval workout on the treadmill.

This week I decided to would start attending my running team's Tuesday evening practices, currently held at the 200m indoor track at the college I graduated from.  It was a great decision because I had three girls to run my workout with!  We started with a warm up and then went into this workout -

1x800m at 1/2 MP with 2 min recovery
4x1200m at threshold pace with surge of 400m(to interval pace) in the middle, with 4 min recovery
4x100m strides/100m jog


800m at 8:00min pace - Is this really my half pace?  This feels slow.
1200m (5:18) - Well that wasn't that bad, that surge in the middle may have been too fast.
1200m (5:32) - Ok that one was all over the place.
1200m (5:28) - That's better, more consistent but this pace still doesn't feel that hard.
1200m (5:28) - FINALLY got the pacing right and consistent and we are done!

Even though the paces felt slower, I think I did the workout correctly because it was supposed to be at threshold pace.  I wasn't supposed to run the 1200m all out at interval pace.  Sometimes following the plan exactly may not feel right but I think it proves to have more benefits.

The workout was over before I knew it and I didn't even feel like I had run 5.5 miles.  It felt so much different to be on the track instead of the treadmill.  Usually I just type in the pace and go and the treadmill says "Run this pace or fall off"; yesterday I really had to focus on pacing.  I may have to make this part of my regular routine!  Its a tough decision though - I love running in the mornings but I also love running with a group! 

How do you handle switching from the treadmill to the track?? 

The best carbs you'll ever eat

Back in college, I came home one night from basketball practice and as soon as I walked in the door I smelled something delicious!  Usually I was the only one who cooked, so I was surprised to see that my two male roommates had made dinner.  It was delicious and super easy and I immediately stole the recipe. Seriously this is the best stuff ever.

The Easiest Mac and Cheese:

1/2 lb of elbow macaroni (about 2-3 cups)
2 lbs shredded cheddar cheese
1 can of stewed tomatoes (14-15oz) or a jar of salsa
3/4 cup heavy cream (I substituted skim milk - either one works)

First shred the cheese.  I used a mix and match of what I had in the frig.

 Set the cheese aside and cook the macaroni until almost tender .

Once pasta is cooled, take 3/4 of the shredded cheese and mix it together with the pasta, tomatoes and milk or cream.  Once mixed, pour into a 8x11 pan.

Use the rest of the shredded on top of the pasta.

Cook at 375F for about ~45 minutes.  Pull out of the oven and let cool for about 10 minutes then Enjoy!

And that is the easiest mac and cheese!

Half Marathon - Week 2

Monday - Easy
3.52 miles with 4x100m strides/31:39/9:00 pace

Early morning run with temps in the 40s!  But it was pretty windy.

Tuesday - Interval
5.5miles/44:20/8:04 pace

Workout:
Mile repeats

Wednesday - Recovery
3.3miles/30:05/9:07 pace

When I woke up, my legs felt tired and achy but by the time I got out after work for this run, I felt good.  The weather was awesome about 50F and I took a longer loop to make 2.9 miles and hit up the gym.  I did 30 minutes on the elliptical and then ran 0.4 miles back home! These recovery runs are amazing!  Running slower after my tough workouts is really making my legs feel rested even with the higher mileage!

Thursday - Tempo
5.58miles/43:11/7:45 pace

Workout:
1 mile easy
1 mile half marathon pace
1 mile easy
5 mins recovery
1 mile half marathon pace
1 mile easy

50F temps in February!! I headed out after work for this tempo run.  Running in short sleeves and capris was amazing and I couldn't hold myself back.  I just let go and ran my planned route as fast as I could.  Splits - 8:24, 7:47, 7:58, 4:28, 7:19, 7:11

After I finished the workout, I showered and ate in record time and headed to my orthopedic massage.  Along with working on my legs, I also received some stretches to do so that I can hopefully keep my hips in line and my hamstrings and quads more flexible.

Friday - Off

Saturday - Long
9 miles/1:24:31/9:24 pace

I decided to meet up with the local running club at 6:30am!!  It was snowing and windy but I bundled up and went.  It was so much fun to have people to run with even though it was cold.  The miles flew by and before I knew it we were back at the cars!  My plan called for 8 miles but we did 9 instead.  Afterward we all went and warmed up at a local coffee shop!  Everyone was so nice and I really enjoyed meeting a bunch of new people!

Sunday - Off


Total week 2 mileage: 26.9 mi